Direct Flight

Marcel Siem makes a hole-in-one on the European Tour. What makes this one special is that it flew directly into the hole. The shot also won him a Porsche.

The commentary sounds better in German, though das verstehe ich nicht.

In the Hinterlands

The national headquarters of the Episcopal Church sent each parish a survey, whose purpose was (italics mine):

to examine ways in which our congregations are involved in justice issues...The committee defines justice as: contesting against structures that produce structural inequities and barriers as we advocate for structures and systems that increase equity and access.

We hope to learn about local responses to resolutions that addressed such issues as economic justice, labor relations, fair wages, racism, poverty alleviation, food security, hunger, faith-based organizing, and asset-based community development....

although we recognize that food pantries and feeding programs constitute faithful and essential responses to the Gospel, they are not the transformational, justice-focused programs we are attempting to identify.

I tried running a Biblical word-search on "economic justice, labor relations, fair wages, racism, poverty alleviation, food security, hunger, faith-based organizing, and asset-based community development" but, except for poverty and hunger, came up empty. Poor Paul, Peter, John, and the rest of the New Testament authors---if they only had had their consciousness raised.

Anyway, the Episcopal leadership resides on 2nd Avenue, a couple of blocks from UN Headquarters, on some of the most expensive real estate in the world. If anyone knows structural inequities and barriers, it's them.

Meanwhile, it was our turn to feed the hungry for Sandwiches on Sunday at the Community Center. We greeted the veterans who had been coming for years. One regular said she had gotten in some trouble with the local sheriff and had to leave town. I said that I would miss her; she hoped to be back before the end of the year.

Enthusiastic new volunteers made 12 trays of lasagna, 50% above our normal production. Despite concerns, there were zero leftovers.

In the hinterlands we'll stick to what we know how to do---food pantries and feeding programs---and leave the transformation stuff to others. We'll be back on October 29th, when baked chicken and rice will be on the menu.

Banking Deserts

"In June the Federal Reserve Bank of St Louis estimated that there are now more than 1,100 banking deserts—defined as census areas at least ten miles from a bank—in America."

Community organisations worry that if branches continue to close in poor areas, many neighbourhoods could become reliant on payday lenders and cheque-cashing stores.

(Money image)

Even with the exorbitant fees ($5 to $12 per month) charged to customers just for maintaining a checking account, branches are being shuttered across the country. By the way, stating that "only" 1.7% of the population resides in a banking desert understates the problem. A single bank may enable an area to escape the definition of a desert, but with no competition one bank can ratchet the fees much higher.

It helps to live in a prosperous zip code; within a mile from our house there are five major banks. Even so, we've winnowed the number of banks we use to two; in order to avoid the fees they all require a minimum balance of $2,000-$3,000, and spreading it around becomes costly very quickly.

Willie Sutton famously and apocryphally said he robbed banks "because that is where the money is." Banks follow that philosophy, too, when deciding where to open for business.

Still Remembered

Willie McCovey's statue greets fans on the way to AT&T.

He retired in 1980, but Giants icon Willie McCovey is still remembered in San Francisco. His WSJ interview harks back to a time when men endured without complaining and triumphed without thinking that they were special:

In early 1954, when I was a junior, I dropped out of high school to help support my family. In addition to my paper route, I tried working as a bus boy in a whites-only restaurant, but I quit after a week. All the things that make you cringe was normal talk then. You took it or you walked away.

I soon found work at a chicken place. I was responsible for washing the chicken parts before they were put out for people to buy.

With 12 y.o. actor Kurt Russell
in 1963 (WSJ photo)

That December, I took the train [from Mobile, AL] to Los Angeles to visit my older brother, Wyatt. It was the first time I was away from Mobile.

I started looking for a job. One day I went to an employment agency, but the line inside was long. It was so hot that I fainted. I was probably dehydrated.

Failing to find a job that day was a blessing. Back at my brother’s apartment, the phone rang. It was Jesse. He was a “bird-dog” who spotted baseball talent for a San Francisco Giants scout named Alex Pompez. He said he told Alex about me. Alex wanted me to report to Florida where the Giants were trying out players.

And the rest is history.

Making His Boss Look Good

"The Mooch" (Independent Journal Review photo)

No sooner was Anthony Scaramucci installed as White House Communications Director than did he give a profanity-laced interview to the New Yorker. The objects of his ire were not Democrats or the media but White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus and White House Chief Strategist Steve Bannon:

“Reince is a f***ing paranoid schizophrenic, a paranoiac,” Scaramucci said. He channelled Priebus as he spoke: “ ‘Oh, [former Fox News executive] Bill Shine is coming in. Let me leak the f***ing thing and see if I can c***-block these people the way I c***-blocked Scaramucci for six months.’ ” (Priebus did not respond to a request for comment.)

Scaramucci was particularly incensed by a Politico report about his financial-disclosure form, which he viewed as an illegal act of retaliation by Priebus. The reporter said Thursday morning that the document was publicly available and she had obtained it from the Export-Import Bank. Scaramucci didn’t know this at the time, and he insisted to me that Priebus had leaked the document, and that the act was “a felony.”

“I’ve called the F.B.I. and the Department of Justice,” he told me.

“Are you serious?” I asked.

“The swamp will not defeat him,” he said, breaking into the third person. “They’re trying to resist me, but it’s not going to work. I’ve done nothing wrong on my financial disclosures, so they’re going to have to go f*** themselves.” Scaramucci also told me that, unlike other senior officials, he had no interest in media attention. “I’m not Steve Bannon, I’m not trying to suck my own c***,” he said, speaking of Trump’s chief strategist. “I’m not trying to build my own brand off the f***ing strength of the President. I’m here to serve the country.”

It does appear that Mr. Trump has made another hasty hiring, but look at it this way: the President seems positively Presidential when compared to his enthusiastic new lieutenant.

Lucky Break

iPhone 6: takes a licking and keeps on
ticking, with a little help from AppleCare.

All members of our household have iPhone 6's and 6S's (yes, awkward plural), which means that our phone contracts with AT&T have expired. We have battery and speed problems with the phones, but none of us are upgrading to the iPhone 7. WSJ tech writer Joanna Stern: [bold added]

My answer requires no filling in the blanks. Do NOT buy an iPhone right now. It’s my annual iPhone No-Buy Rule™: Once summer rolls around wait for the new one, typically announced in early September.

This year, there’s more reason than ever to wait. According to my WSJ colleagues, in addition to an updated iPhone 7 and 7 Plus, there will be a special model that’s expected to have an OLED screen, wireless charging and facial-recognition technology. Apple declined to comment on the reports.

Even if you couldn’t care less about fancy-schmancy new tech, there are other reasons to hold out. If iPhone-istory repeats itself, Apple will drop the price on the current iPhone 7 models by $100 or more. And now that carrier contracts are all but dead, you may have your phone for two to three years—or at least until something goes wrong with it.

Which brings us to our haggard iPhone 6 and 6s. It turns out most of their common problems can be fixed—with money and/or time. Why sink any cash into a phone you’re going to replace? Because it could up your resale value, and it will definitely empower you to buy your next phone only when the time is right.

Three phones on the account will limp along until the new iPhone [Eight] is available. As for me, my iPhone 6 had a touchscreen problem that merited a full replacement under AppleCare this May. In other words, I have an "old" phone with new hardware that should last well into 2018. So I won't be upgrading to the [Eight], even if Apple launches it on time. Once in a while you get a lucky break, but it's only lucky if you recognize and act upon it.

Much Narrower Than It Used to Be

If you want energy independence, buy two.

On the way to the Stanford Apple Store we stopped by the Tesla showroom, which had a steady stream of curious passersby. Everyone else looked at the cars, but I was interested in the Powerwall. Had consumer-level battery storage progressed to the point where solar-energy owners could be off the grid? (Normally excess electricity is "sold" to the utility during the day and is "bought back" at night. Capacious batteries would greatly reduce or even eliminate this relationship with the utility.)

I had phrased my question poorly. Tom, the Tesla salesperson, explained that while every home is legally required to maintain a connection with PG&E, two battery banks are sufficient not to have to draw electricity at night. Two Powerwalls installed would cost about $15,000, and a solar-panel system, as quoted by Tesla's competitors will run $20,000. Spending $35,000 when our electricity bill is about $2,000 per year doesn't make much sense, but the decision is much narrower than it used to be. Besides, showing off signaling virtue to neighbors doesn't come cheap.

OK2P

At the Olomana Golf Course, I piddled before I pitched
(both from the bushes). A $2,000 penalty would have
hushed my buzz.

In a story from Honolulu that I missed last February,

A State Representative wants to impose fines for people who relieve themselves in public. Representative Gene Ward will introduce a measure this month to fine repeat offenders up to $2,000 who relieve themselves in certain spots. Ward issued a news release Friday calling for "urine-free zones."

How will one know that an area is a urine-free zone? Is it marked(!)?

In the absence of a sign may one infer that urination is permitted, i.e., OK2P?

Good Enough

Usually the congregation sits for Bible readings, but for the Gospel everyone stands and faces the reader:

Other Scriptures may be meditated on and thought about, but the Gospel demands that we act, and standing up and facing the reader attentively is a way to indicate that we realize that.

Your humble blogger absorbs information visually throughout the week but for one or two hours on Sunday consciously puts down the program (unlike everyone in the picture) and listens. Hearing exercises a different part of the brain and is how most Christians received the Word for over a millennium. If it was good enough for them, it's good enough for me.

Always a Borrower Be

Our books have been on the shelves for years but were
newer and in better shape than others that were donated.

Only a small sliver of the population engages in extreme hoarding, but there's a much larger group who are hoarders of a category---for example, clothes or computer equipment---that alone can clutter the living space.

My own weakness is books; parting with one is psychologically like forever closing the door to the book's discoveries. I began sorting through a tall bookcase last week and found that there were many books that I didn't care about, i.e., old non-fiction texts, children's stories, and suspense novels that no longer had mystery. We boxed them and took them to the San Mateo Public Library, which is having a book sale in September.

I renewed my library card and borrowed On the Road, which I had always meant to read. I now intend to borrow most books instead of buying them: 1) The groaning bookshelves can barely handle more weight; 2) The existence of a due-date forces me to buckle down and read books that enter the home. We'll see.

Good News, So Not About Russia

WSJ: Low-Income Earners See Weekly Pay Gain Faster Than Other Groups:[bold added]

Weekly pay for earners at the lowest 10th percentile of the wage scale rose at a faster rate last quarter, from a year earlier, than any other group measured by the Labor Department—including those at the top of the income scales who earn five times as much.

The shift for low-income workers—including restaurant workers and retail cashiers—who make about $10.75 an hour, is a sign that a tightening labor market is delivering better pay to workers who largely haven’t shared in gains since the recession ended eight years ago, according to economists and government data. Last quarter marked the first time since late 2010 that this earning group’s gains outpaced all others.....

The recent improvement for low earners coincides with a downward trend in the unemployment rate, which stood at 4.4% last month, versus 4.9% a year earlier. The unemployment rate for those with less than a high-school education—who make up much of the low-wage workforce—fell even more sharply, to 6.4% last month from 7.5% a year earlier. Tighter labor supply in theory should push up wages.

Rising pay for the lowest-paid without a government mandate on the minimum wage---how is that possible?

We'll wait for the analytics. The factors behind higher pay packets could be business growth from reduced regulation, fewer immigrants in the labor pool, less "unfair" trade competition against domestic employers, the wealth effect from a booming stock market, higher consumer confidence, or any combination of the above.

Rasmussen: Americans Are Happier Than They Have Been In Years

Americans are feeling better about their own lives than they have in over a decade.

People are happier now than any time during President Obama's two terms....That's hard to believe with Russian collusion happening and Republicans trying to kill 40,000 people a year under their health care bill. And we're not even talking about the millions (billions?) of people who will perish because President Trump pulled out of the Paris climate accords.

The people are happy in their ignorance, and the media needs to try harder to set them straight.

"Baby, Light My Fire" --- Not to be Taken Literally

(Telegraph graphic)

Another sign that Chinese innovation is overtaking America's: 'Anti-pervert' flame-throwers for sale in China.[bold added]

A flame-thrower that can hurl a stream of fire half a metre long is being marketed in China to help women fend off unwanted advances...

Some are shaped like a cigarette lighter and emit small flames, while others hurl fire for 50cm with temperatures of up to 1,800 degrees Celsius (3,300 Fahrenheit).

Yes, Lotharios, at 3,300 degrees F. it will leave a mark.

This device would also be a good conversation- and fire-starter when lighting candles on a birthday cake. I checked, but it's not available on Amazon. Sad!

Hat tip: Tyler Cowen

Obamacare: Let the Situation Ripen

Yesterday I made the following statement about Obamacare: "government spending is rising much faster than originally projected while revenues are falling short."

These days one should not just throw out a statement like that without a link or two. Here is Investor's Business Daily, on the signs of collapse:

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reports that the number of insurers applying to participate in ObamaCare exchanges next year plunged by 38% compared with last year, and is half what it was in 2016.

CMS also reported that 40 counties in Indiana, Ohio and Nevada are at risk of having zero insurance companies in their ObamaCare exchanges next year. The Kaiser Family Foundation put the number of at-risk counties at 38.

In addition, CMS reported that 2.4 million enrollees in 40% of the nation's counties will have just one insurance company in their area.

The average increase in premiums next year for a Silver plan in eight states will be 18%, according to Avalere. One of the last ObamaCare insurers in Iowa has put in for a 43.5% hike. In Washington state, the average boost is 22%. In Tennessee, the proposed rate hikes range from 21% to 42%. And so on.

As we noted before in this space, these insurance defections and gargantuan rate hikes have nothing to do with the Republican's repeal effort, but with the continued deterioration of the ObamaCare markets.

States are also starting to struggle with the costs of ObamaCare's "free" Medicaid expansion. A report from the National Association of State Budget Offices said that the expansion will cost states nearly $9 billion next year, more than twice what it cost in 2016.

CMS reports that the per capita costs of the Medicaid expansion are 50% higher than expected.

Arkansas scaled back its Medicaid expansion in May, and Ohio lawmakers voted in June to freeze the expansion in that state. Oregon's Medicaid expansion contributed a $1.6 billion gap in the state's budget. In California, the Medicaid expansion will cost the state $1.3 billion this year, putting additional strain on the state's budget.

Today President Trump repeated his call to the Senate to continue working on a health care bill. It's my belief---hold on to your hats---that he thinks it's the right thing to do despite the fact (not a probability) that he and the Republicans will be vilified no matter what they come up with. As a person with life experience, he knows that trying to help people who don't wish to be helped not only is unappreciated but resented.

He should just call off his effort, declare Obamacare to be the law of the land until the people overwhelmingly want something different, agree to provide funding according to the 2009 CBO projections, and let the Obamacare advocates tell us how to fix it as long as they stay within the budgetary guidelines (plus 10% because he's a reasonable guy). Let the situation ripen, as the saying goes.

Let's See Who Was Right

What I wrote in March about the House's original failure to repeal Obamacare ("It Would Have Been a Catastrophic Victory") applies to yesterday's Senate "failure" as well.

The Republican Senators couldn't overturn Obamacare because it was a great system (it's not--government spending is rising much faster than originally projected while revenues are falling short); the Senators didn't want to be blamed at the ballot box for the pain of the transition---just as the Democrats were blamed from 2010 to 2016.

One doesn't go changing a system where hundreds of billions of dollars are spent without some good, innocent people being harmed. In 2017 we would have been treated to stories about people who lost due to Obamacare's repeal. The difference was that in 2013 we didn't hear about people who lost their doctor and/or their insurance plan because of Obamacare. Unfair, but that's the media landscape.

The next order of business is to decide how much to fund the health care system that so many Republicans disagree with. Frankly, I'd start with the 2009 CBO projections that were used to pass the bill, perhaps adding 5-10% for overages.

Opponents at the time said that Obamacare advocates were lowballing the costs in a classic get-it-passed-so-we're-stuck-with-it move. Let's see who was right.

Evelyn Waugh Was Born 100 Years Too Soon

Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966) (Biography.com)
I long thought "he" was a woman because
dust jackets never had photos.

The majority of book-readers are women, and they want to read woman writers:

A 2014 Goodreads survey of 20,000 male and 20,000 female participants on the site found that of the 50 books published that year that were most read by women, 46 were written by women.

One growing genre is the psychological suspense novel with a female protagonist. Because of a common belief that only a woman can truly get into such a character's mind, female readers favor woman authors.

Male writers are adapting ambiguous pseudonyms (e.g., Jordan, Stacy) or just abbreviations (e.g., J.K. Rowling, who is, of course, a real woman) so as not to be rejected out of hand.

These days men aren't reading a lot of books, especially fiction. It's a woman-readers' world, and male suspense writers must adapt accordingly.